After making a solid start on GC, Tom Pidcock’s coach believes Q36.5 have a strong opportunity at taking their maiden Grand Tour stage victory with the Brit on stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia – the first summit finish of the 2025 race.
It’s been a winless opening six stages for Pidcock on his Giro debut, but he has threatened with fifth place on the opening stage’s reduced sprint in Albania, and third on stage 5 in Matera, where he lacked the “raw power” to come around maglia rosa Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
“I think it’s been a decent start for Q36.5 and Tom, of course, you hope to have won already one time, but we all see how strong Pedersen and Lidl-Trek are, so they can really control the group,” long-term coach Kurt Bogaerts told Cyclingnews on Thursday.
“We’ve not got to the biggest stage chances yet for Tom, though. Stage 5 was an opportunity, and he came close, as he did on the first day in Albania, and he did a pretty good time trial.”
Pidcock will be looking to emulate what he did on Alpe d’Huez three years ago at the Tour, but will likely have to do it from the GC group and not the breakaway as he did in 2022, as he currently sits 14th overall, under a minute behind the race leader, and won’t be given that freedom to attack so easily.
Long-term coach Bogaerts is hoping that, despite not heading to altitude in preparation for the Giro, Pidcock can build on the climbing performances he produced in early-season stage racing across the AlUla Tour, Vuelta a Valenciana and Tirreno-Adriatico.
“I think stage 7 could definitely be an opportunity for Tom,” Bogaerts told Cyclingnews before stage 6 in Potenza.
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“We worked this year mainly to be ready for the Classics, and that stage is obviously quite different, with a much longer type of climb, but I think he’s shown potential this year in these types of days.
“It’s also a great opportunity to progress in mountain work. Hopefully, we can do something.”
The profile of the climb would seem to suit Pidcock on paper, with a shallow opening 9km at 4.6% average gradient, and a stinging final 2km of climbing on 10% average gradient slopes. The finish in Tagliacozzo flattens out, so if the Brit can survive, he would be one of the favourites in a sprint of the GC riders.
The battle for pink
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is the best-placed rider targeting the overall after six days of racing, with a 40-second lead already to Pidcock, and the Slovenian was confident the Brit would be playing a part in the Giro’s first summit finish.
However, he wasn’t too sure about Pidcock being a genuine GC contender for the race’s entirety.
“I mean for sure for the moment I count [Pidcock] as a GC rival,” said Roglič before stage 6. “I don’t know if he will be there until the last week, but let’s say for tomorrow, for sure he will be there.”
Second favourite Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XG) was similarly keeping a close eye on Pidcock: “I think it’s the first time he attempts GC, but anything he attempts he can perform well, because he’s one of the best riders in the peloton, but we’ll have to see how he goes.”
While Pidcock was adamant before the Giro that he “wasn’t interested” in targeting the overall, Bogaerts told Cyclingnews a week prior to the Grande Partenza that “if I really dream, I hope for a top five in GC”, alongside a stage win.
The Belgian reinforced this narrative while speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws on Thursday, which is understandable after making a solid start. But stages like on Friday to Tagliacozzo are where he’ll perhaps have to make the difference on those less punchy riders, who may be better than him in the brutally tough third week.
“Tom will try to get involved in the battle for pink for as long as possible,” the Belgian coach and DS told HLN. “The outside world won’t care, but if Tom rides top ten in the final standings in this Giro, I think we can be satisfied. To succeed, he can’t make any more mistakes.”
After being invited to their first Giro as a wildcard, the Swiss team will be relying mainly on Pidcock to bring them that massive stage win, as they attempt to be big players throughout each of the 21 stages.
“We are trying to find the limits of the team, of the individuals, and I think we’ve done that quite well,” said Bogaerts.
“These are very committed and motivated guys, and they want to be better every day, so we need to glue them together every day, and work out how we can have this commitment and energy and maximise it into a top result.
“We want to win in the race, we want to impact the race each day, and this is new for a lot of the guys, so these are the kind of habits they need to embrace, and it’s something they want to do and you need to constantly guide them through and get the mistakes out.”